The present invention relates generally to the field of personal exercise equipment, and in particular to a new and useful weight system having segmented weights, a tether and various attachments for a wide variety of exercises.
The marketplace is filled with personal exercise products collectively offering a wide range of approaches to the task of helping people build muscular strength and improve their physical fitness. Among the problems that people have with personal exercise products is boredom and monotony. Few products on the market address this. It is one of the objectives of the present invention to overcome the problem of boredom by offering experiences that are both physically beneficial and mentally engaging.
A search was conducted at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The search encompassed United States patents categorized under the following U.S. patent classifications: Class 482; Subclasses 92, 93, 94, 98, 99, 100, 106, 107, 115, 118, 120, 121, 132 and 908.
The most pertinent patents found in the search were the following:
A search of published U.S. patent applications did not reveal any published applications classified in the same classes and subclasses as were searched for issued patents.
No patents found during the search disclose all of the same elements as the invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,364 to Rotella discloses an exercise device in the form of a rectangular body having openings for alternately receiving weights or for gripping the body. The body is flexible and can be used as a tension exerciser between two body parts. When weights are inserted in the openings, the body becomes a dumbbell for lifting. According to the Rotella ""364 patent, the weight is adjusted by using different mass inserts in the openings.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,482,151 to Zwilling teaches a barbell having housings for holding annular weights of increasing diameter on the ends of the barbell shaft. The housings have a plate connected to the shaft for mounting the annular weights against. An outer cylindrical cover fits over the mounted weights and the edge of the plate. The cover is held in place using threaded screws passing radially through locking nuts to contact the shaft and make a friction connection.
U.S. Pat. No. 702,356 to Calvert illustrates a barbell having housings at each end holding a variable volume of pellet weights, such as lead shot. An end cap is fitted over a threaded shaft at each end, pressed down over the pellet weights and secured using a wing nut tightened on the threaded shaft.
Other patents disclose exercisers with weights connected to handles, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,261 to Mora for an exerciser having an adjustable resistance cord winding on a handle with the other end of the cord connected to a weight.
A wrist exerciser having a handle connected to a variable mass weight is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,755 to Sarich. The weight is a container; the mass of the weight may be changed by adding a liquid such as water to the container. A cord connects the handle and weight. The handle has a tapered middle section, so that the handle may be rotated by hand to wind the cord about the middle section, thereby raising and lowering the weight and strengthening the wrists.
A similar wrist exerciser device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,087 to Roth, in which the handle and cord are connected to a bottle weight by a threaded connection on the neck of the bottle. The Roth ""087 exerciser is used in the same manner as the Sarich ""755 device.
Several patents disclose cord retraction devices having one end adapted for a person to pull.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,599 to Beliakov discloses a resistance exerciser having a cord retraction mechanism fixed to a wall and the free end of the cord attached to a boxing glove. A person may exercise with the device by practicing boxing punches while wearing the glove, so that the cord and retraction mechanism pull against the forward motion of the punch. Alternatively, the cord can be connected to an ankle strap to provide resistance for kicks.
The search revealed patents for rolling exercisers as well. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,475 to Ott discloses a wheel mounted on a shaft having handles extending from each side of the wheel. A resistance mechanism is included between the wheel and the shaft. The Ott ""475 exerciser is designed for a person to grip the handles and extend their body forward from a kneeling to nearly prone position and return, while the mechanism in the wheel provides additional resistance for exercising against.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,961 to Mattox teaches a rolling exerciser having a frame supporting rollers on a shaft. A person can extend his body from a kneeling to a prone position and back while gripping handles located on the shaft on either side of the rollers. The frame includes a guide for the rollers, a stop to prevent the rollers from going too far and knee pads. The ends of the roller shaft are bent backwards and slidably connected to the frame behind the knee pads.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,146,318 to Kuo and 6,053,853 to Hinds each disclose different types of rolling exercisers having handles mounted to means for rolling across a flat surface. The Hinds ""853 patent is particularly adapted for securing a person""s feet to the handles. These exercisers are otherwise clearly different from the invention.
The remaining patents disclose other exercisers and are cited for general reference.
The present invention is an exercise system which includes, in one of its embodiments, a weight having multiple segments which can be loaded with different density materials and used in pairs mounted on an axle and connected via a strap or tether to a handle or other structure.
The assembled segmented weight preferably has a disk shaped mounting body or dish supported on one end of a shaft and preferably six pie shaped segments removably secured together on the body, although as few as two and as many as twelve segments are possible. The dish has guides for aligning the segments or weight sections on the dish. The segments are held in place by a central retaining ring or hub and a locking knob. A shaft extends through, or is formed as part of the hub and a pair of the dishes. The locking knob is threaded to an end of the shaft for retaining the segments to the dish at each end of the shaft. The segments are hollow vessels which may be variably filled with different contents to affect the total mass and individual mass of the segments. Preferably, the segments are filled from the apex ends through resealable openings, such as a threaded neck that can be closed by a threaded cap. The locking knob engages over the cap of each segment to lock the segment to the dish. The segments or sections can be filled with liquids such as water or granular solids, such as sand, beans, grain or other granular material. A second like weight is removably secured to the other end of the shaft.
An exerciser according to one embodiment of the invention uses a pair of these weights on the shaft, connected to a handle using a flexible flat strap, tether or cord. The handle has a yoke with one end of the strap secured to it. Extensions may be secured to the handle to make it longer and extend to the sides of the yoke. Preferably, the strap is secured to the yoke using a retaining pin inserted through a loop at the end of the strap positioned inside a slotted chamber formed in the yoke, so that the loop is prevented from leaving the chamber, while the strap extends through the slot.
The other end of the strap is connected to the shaft with the weights in a similar manner. The shaft may include an axially mounted guide for the strap, which can spin freely on the shaft. The lower end of the strap may be fixed at one circumferential position on the hub and wound on the hub. The handle, strap, hub and shaft are connected so that in a standing position, the exerciser works like a yo-yo. The weights drop as the strap unwinds from around the hub shaft to a low point just above the ground, and the user then controls the weights to return them by causing the strap to rewind on the hub in the opposite direction. In one embodiment the shaft and hub are one piece of strong plastic or metal. The segmented weights may also be replaced by one piece weights or single-chamber weight for receiving water or granular material.
In other embodiments used with floor-supported exercisers, the strap or tether is connected to a rewind tension mechanism and the weights can roll on the floor. As the weights are extended away from the rewind mechanism, it causes the strap to tension, and the rewind mechanism draws the strap back on the return stroke. The weights are preferably of the segments type disclosed above, but may be solid or have a single chamber to be filled with a weighted, pourable mass such as water or granular solid.
In a further embodiment of the invention the weight are placed on opposite sides of a central elongated handle to create a dumbbell or, with a longer cental handle, a barbell.
The present invention can be used in various postures and for various physical exercises.
When used like a yo-yo, the invention provides a valuable exercise as the user controls the movement of the spinning weight while holding the handle yoke in one hand or a pair of handle extensions in two hands. The user can find a rhythm for the up and down motion which he or she finds most effective to exercise the arms. Successful use of the invention in this yo-yo mode of use also requires the user to adjust to the device""s changing patterns of spin and accommodate to its cyclical shifting of weight for a more interesting exercise session. The harmonious mental engagement that results from successful operation of the invention keeps boredom at bay. The beneficial physical effects of operating the invention with weights that can range from two to forty pounds or more, frequently take place in a state of xe2x80x9cflowxe2x80x9d wherein the user and the device are in harmonious physical/mental synchrony.
The invention can also be a social product. Although fitness activities, even in a public gym, are usually individual, isolating experiences that separate users from friends, family and colleagues, the present spinning weight invention is designed so that it can be passed around while in action.
Passing the exerciser of the invention from one person to another while keeping the weight spinning, rising and falling can be an enjoyable challenge for groups of people. This will have particular interest for settings like senior citizens centers where sociability is often a key to a successful exercise.
In another embodiment, with the exchange of key parts, the invention can be used to exercise the legs and arms while the user is in a seated position, on the floor, on a stool, chair or sofa. The exercise activity can take place in relaxed, social, congregate. In yet another version, with an additional exchange and adjustment of parts, users can gather in small groups on bare or carpeted floors and engage in exercising the abdomen, back and upper arms.
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide an exerciser comprising: a hub; a flat strap having one end connected to the hub and adapted to be wound on the hub; a handle connected to an opposite end of the strap for allowing a user to hold the handle to support the hub; and a pair of disk-shaped weights connected to opposite sides of the hub for spinning in one direction as the hub moves away from the handle and the strap unwinds from the hub, and in the one direction as the hub moves toward the handle and the strap winds onto the hub, the weights spinning in an opposite direction as the hub thereafter moves away from the handle and the strap again unwinds from the hub.
Another object of the invention is to provide a weight for use with this exerciser or for use with other weighted exercisers which comprises: a mounting dish; a plurality of hollow segments each for receiving a pourable material for adding weight to the segments, the segments being engaged to the dish to form a substantially closed disk-shaped weigh; and means for fixing the segments to the dish.
Still further objects of the invention provides exercisers which combined the segmented, disk-shaped weights in pairs connected to a handle to form a bar bell or dumb bell, or with handles, a strap, a biased winding mechanism and a knee pad to form a floor exerciser, or with a biased winding mechanism, handles, a strap and peddles to form a different type of floor or seat exerciser.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated.